Shakhtyor Soligorsk will be looking to continue their impressive run of form when they travel to Dinamo Minsk in the Belarusian Premier League on Saturday evening.
Yuriy Vernydub's side have won four of their last five in the league to rise into third spot in the table, while Dinamo occupy eighth with 13 points to show from their 10 matches this season.
Match preview
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Shakhtyor have not finished lower than third in the Belarusian Premier League since 2009, while they lifted the title in 2005, which is an indication of their standing at this level.
The Miners struggled for consistency in the early weeks of the 2020 campaign but have been in impressive form since the end of last month, winning four of their last five matches.
Incredibly, Shakhtyor have not even conceded in the league since April 17, picking up clean sheets in each of their last five, including back-to-back wins over Slavia Mozyr and Belshina.
Vernydub's side are currently third in the table, three points off second place Energetik-BGU and four behind BATE Borisov, who have also bounced back from a difficult start.
Shakhtyor will bring a four-game unbeaten run on their travels into Saturday's contest, while they have only lost one of their last seven away from home in the Belarusian Premier League.
As for Dinamo, a total of 13 points from their 10 matches has left them in eighth spot in the table, some nine points behind leaders BATE as the season continues to progress.
Leonid Kuchuk's side finished fourth in the division last season and have not been outside of the top four since 2007. They are only five points off fourth at this stage, though, with plenty of football left to play.
Dinamo were held to a 1-1 draw by Vitebsk last weekend but recorded a 1-0 victory over Isloch in their last home fixture on May 17 courtesy of a second-half effort from Ivan Bakhar.
Next up for Minsk outfit after this one is a trip to struggling Belshina, and the table could look a lot different for the club if they manage to pick up maximum points from their next two fixtures.
Dinamo Minsk Belarusian Premier League form: WWLLWD
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Belarusian Premier League form: LWWDWW
Head To Head
Dinamo have won 27 of the last 64 matches between the two sides in all competitions, with Shakhtyor claiming 18 victories and the further 19 games ending level.
The pair played out a 1-1 draw when they last locked horns in September 2019, but Shakhtyor were 3-0 winners earlier in the campaign.
Four of the last six top-flight meetings between the pair have finished level, while Dinamo have not triumphed in this fixture since October 2017.
We say: Dinamo 1-1 Shakhtyor
There is not an awful lot between these two sides when it comes to quality, and the recent meetings between the pair suggest that it will be a close encounter on Saturday evening. Both managers would likely accept a point if it were offered ahead of kickoff, and we are expecting a score draw in this game.
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Dinamo Minsk win with a probability of 36.44%. A win for Shakhtyor Soligorsk had a probability of 35.23% and a draw had a probability of 28.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Dinamo Minsk win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.72%) and 2-0 (6.77%). The likeliest Shakhtyor Soligorsk win was 0-1 (11.37%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.25%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood.
